Archive - October 2009

Isn’t it great when we get to look at things we wouldn’t normally have access to? Designer Olga Kalugina has come up with the “EYE” flowerpot which enables you to get up close and personal with the growth and

development of your plant. This flower pot is a must for plant lovers and makes a great educational tool for kids as well. You can gaze at length at your plants root system checking its health and progress using visual diagnosis. The pot cleverly maintains an ambient environment of humidity, light and soil conditions and shows them on the display – now that’s flower power!

Fancy adding a bit of sparkle to your next dinner party? Or maybe your next coffee break? If your living room isn’t interactive enough already, the “Ripple interactive LED Coffee Table” will add a playful and

distinctive illuminating touch to your home. The coffee table is made of 480 sensors and

white LEDs and gently illuminates as soon as an object is placed on it, creating an innovative and unique light to your living room. An on / off switch is discreetly hidden on the underside of the table and plugs into any standard (11OV) household outlet. Prices range from $1,500 to $2,100 depending on size and will certainly make a glorious addition to your home.

Sustainable living for kids (and parents) just got easier thanks to designer Simona Racaite from Lithuania who has created an uber-eco collection of recycling bins for kids called “I do Recycle”. The fun and futuristic designs help kids understand the importance of saving the environment. Not only does it reduce the financial strain on the government it simultaneously performs an important educational role for children. The bins are available in four designs: “I do glass, plastic, paper and bio” and can be attached together with in-built magnets – so good they should be made for adults as well!

Calling all book worms! This chair enables you to power-up your reading lamp while you rock. The eco-innovative rocking chair uses kinetic energy to generate electricity to power its OLED lamp. The Murakami chair was designed by Rochus Jacob from the US and uses the latest nano-dynamo technology to generate the reading lamp. Users can sit and relax in the blissful knowledge that they are not draining energy but creating it, a definite step in the right direction for green living. The chair is currently rocking up a storm amongst senior citizens but has not yet seen production - perhaps one for the wish list for grandma so she can save the planet in the comfort of her own home!

Our trusty Post-it note has just been super-charged with bags more benefits. Designer dream team Pu Tai, Ayda Anlagan & Paul Blease have reinvented the Post-it, and introduce the “Pock-it”. This fantastically simple and clever design can be used at home or in the office to store business cards, money, tickets or anything worth Pocketing. It was coincidently developed whilst working on another project and the designers are now considering making a “Pock-it” big enough to hold a peanut butter and banana sandwich – now that’s design at its very best!

Picture this: You are walking through your local shopping precinct and notice yourself being stretched beyond all proportion on a big screen. Such crazy contortion antics became reality in Liverpool, England as Artist Chris O’Shea toyed with shoppers using an installation of God’s hand on a BBC Big Screen. O’Shea’s inspiration came from David and Goliath and Land of the Giants with a desire to inject an element of mystery and mischief into our busy lives. This project demonstrates how media channels are embracing reality in public places and simultaneously enhancing community spirit. T-Mobile embraced this trend, too, with their successful dance commercials in Liverpool Street Station.

Houses made of bricks are so last season: the latest eco trend is building houses from straw. Straw bale houses are being embraced by eco developers and individuals due to their forgiving effect on the environment and amazing cost benefits. Advances in materials and technology mean houses built now will last longer than ever at a fraction of the price of traditional housing. Straw-bale-houses.com offer step by step workshops from foundations all the way to the roof showing you how to construct each section. The Australian Straw Bale Building Association also has industry professionals on hand sharing advice and inspiration. Straw bale houses have lasted since the 1800s and are still going strong – a great option for green construction on a budget.

Staying cool in summer has always been serious business. With this in mind, Dyson have launched the Air Multiplier bladeless fan. The fun and funky design draws in air and amplifies it by 15 times to keep you super cool as summer goes scorchio! The revolutionary design out-shines conventional fans that give a “buffeting” choppy air flow by delivering a smooth direct stream of air. It is also safer and easier to clean than traditional fans. A dazzling host of celebrities attended the Sydney launch including Kerry Anne Kennelly and Charlotte Dawson, presenter of Australia’s Next Top Model. The fans are available from the Dyson online shop and are soon becoming an iconic gadget with a score of over 350,000 hits on You Tube with ‘Our New Dyson Fan’.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could sit back, relax, listen to classical music and rest in the knowledge that the performance of your brain is being enhanced? With an impressive 50 years of research into “audio-guidance” technology, the Monroe Institute has discovered a way to synchronise both hemispheres of your brain by listening to music, or ‘Binaural Beats’ to be exact. The research, known as “Hemi Sync”, shows that by listening to Binaural Beats your brain releases sounds, known as a Binaural Beat which encourages the heightened brain activity. So you can now increase your concentration, productivity and reduce stress simply by listening to audio CDs, ideal for those living a busy and stressed out lifestyle. If you are keen to ride those enhanced brain-waves, “Hemi Sync” products are available to buy online from the Hemi Sync website.

Give your computer an ‘au naturel’ makeover with these gorgeous custom-made USB sticks designed by OOOMS from the Netherlands. The OOOMS gurus fuel each other’s creativity with wit and humour and a down-to-earth attitude making great ideas become a reality. The sticks are available in 1Gb, 2Gb and 4Gb and start from $50 Euros available from Rose & Radish in California, USA and ship worldwide or directly fom OOOMS. They have been specifically designed to stand out from their typical lack-lustre environment of dull and grey computer hardware. All USB sticks have been individually selected for their beautifully unique appeal and hand crafted into your personal eco memory stick.

Eco warrior clothing label Oeuf has just unveiled their wildest collection of children’s clothing yet. The collection is made from 100% Alpaca wool and makes a sensational accompaniment to a ‘Green Halloween’. The beautiful collection includes a grey wolf style, cuddly white bear and green dino-style ensembles. To add to the excitement, Oeuf’s wild clothing co-insides with the long awaited release of the, ‘Where the Wild Things Are” movie. Oeuf’s wild collection has to be the best way to celebrate this treasured children’s book.

It appears that the beverage market is swapping its Red Bull wings for an easy life - well almost. Supercharged energy drinks remain a dynamic player in the drinks market, however we are now witnessing the emergence of a new breed of anti-energy drinks promising a “vacation in a bottle” rather than a hyper intensive caffeine hit. New beverages such as Slow Cow, Malava Relax, and Ex Chill offer consumers natural ingredients such as camomile and melatonin as a way to slow down rather than speed up their hectic lifestyles.

Wallet? Check. Phone? Check. Bike? Check. Mexican designer Victor Aleman has now made it possible to get even your bike into your suitcase. The Eco 7 bike is unique, as unlike other fold-up bikes on the market (that fold to the size of the wheels) Eco 7 has been designed with various hinged points on the wheel enabling it to fold and the spokes to collapse into the rim. Once the bike is disassembled, it is so compact it can be stored in your suitcase.

Danish artist Peter Callesen has created an exquisite collection of paper-cut artworks from a humble A4 piece of paper. Callesen’s designs range from 3D flowers to hummingbirds flying off the page and has even created larger scale pieces such as child-sized castle crafted from billboard sized paper. Callesen says people use A4 paper everyday but rarely notice the “actual materiality of it.”
It is this fragile and delicate side of paper that Callesen aims to capture in his works.

French car-makers Renault have introduced four all-electric concept vehicles at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. Electric cars are silent and emit no CO2, making them an environmentally friendly motor vehicle solution.

The Renault ZE (Zero Emissions) series will be launched from 2011 and the concept range includes the Twizy Z.E., Zoe Z.E., Fluence Z.E. and Kangoo Z.E. The first of the range to be rolled out will be the Twizy – a space buggy style electric vehicle, intended to be alternative to motorbikes or scooters. All four models will have several options for recharging. A standard charge will take four to eight hours and can be done anywhere or a quick charge can be done in 20 minutes at special charging points.

If you are one of those people who hates to leave technology behind when camping here is a cool, environmentally friendly solution. Created by UK communications giant Orange the solar powered tent uses photovoltaic fabric to charge a flexible LCD screen and even wireless Internet! The special fabric is designed to capture the sun’s rays at anytime of the day. It even has a built in pouch to charge up your essential gadgets like phone or Ipod.
“Glo-cation” technology allows campers to find their site via SMS messaging or RFID signal, lighting up the shelter like a beacon and there is even a ground sheet that heats automatically when temperatures fall below a certain level. You definitely won’t be roughing it in this tent.